My thoughts on the '11 NISMO

[Nism0370]

I've had the car for 3 mos.
Modifications-
1) Oil cooler (Setrab 25 row) with Royal Purple full synthetic
2) Stillen Gen 3 intake
3) SS brake lines w/Motul RBF600 fluid
4) Swift springs.

Events-
1) autocross (while car was stock) -
2) HPDE with Porsche club(with above modifications)
3) daily driver...

Results...
1)autoX very tail happy. Looks great. disappointed in my times..new tires make a slower difference, tread block may be a factor, but a guy with a stock boxster S was much faster all day....
2)HPDE -I'm Amazed at how well this car did. I could throw it into curves with no problem. Braking was adequate and throttle was pinned for most of the event. Not the fastest car, but I was keeping up with the M1 BMW, Carrera 4S, and any entry level car or driver. (2011 Porsche GT3 RS was passing as if I was standing still.) Little brake fade over laps, little body roll. Oil temp hit 240 for most of the session when pushing hard. Ambient temp was 90+.
3) Comfortable and pretty tight sports car. Fun but not world class...
The rear brake vents are only for decoration and no front brake cooling ducts.
I'd hate to think that the aero package is non functional. I know the spoilers add downforce at speed, but I can touch the plastic wheelwell in the rear brake vent. Is this functional? Is the rear diffusor functional? It makes 18 year olds jealous as it looks sportier than their Pontiac Sunfires. I wish NISMO had the track goodies that the name assumes. Gets plenty of looks, but looks faster than it is. Maybe Nissan should add a track version with the GTR's functional technology....may need to charge a bit more, but it would be a real Nissan Motorsports track ready car.

[Nism0370]

I want to make it clear that overall, I love the Nismo. It's a blast to drive. It's tight, nimble and looks good. I look forward to adding many many more miles. Its an impressive car that can keep pace with a 997 C4S and BMW M1 and is still a daily driver. Well done Nissan!

[280z/300zx]

I can't wait to auto-x my NISMO. I did several events in my 09 touring sport before it was totaled so I'm wanting to see if the NISMO is the same or better in comparison. I know in my local area my touring sport Z was right on the heels of the guy with the GTR and the couple guys with caymen's weren't able to get close. Regular Vette's weren't close either, only Z06's had better times than me. I'm sure the drivers are the main factors but I'm not a great driver by any stretch either.

Glad your liking your NISMO

[Rooskey]

My sons powerwheels has 18 volts . I bet its faster than yours, lol! By tail happy you mean its light and comes around easy? If so no doubt, the 350 was worse. In my area (with in 15 miles of my house) there were four 350z's crashed in only two months. Im sure half was from crap driving. Anyways the 370 seems to be a little better in that department

[Shamu]

I agree somewhat with your intial assessment. However with some more seat time, proper setup I think you will be more impressed with the car. The Nismo really need good sticky Hoosier a6s to exploit it's capability.

It's weak points are silly stock VLSD - its not much better than an open diff. And Nismo suspension isn't track ready. With JRZ pro RS coil overs my Nismo came alive. With 1000 lb front springs and 400 lb rears rear end sets nicely and car is very neutral with no understeer. It's one of the fastest street cars at PCA events now. Runs even with well driven Cayman S's and GT3s. Last event the Nismo was top 4 less than a second behind a couple race slick clad sub 2000 lb Porsche race cars. Two 997 gt3 and a 997 GTS RS were behind my car. Closest Boxster S on Hoosiers was two seconds back. It's taken me 6 months to really start extracting potential from this car. Hang in there!

On track I have fun passing track prepared Cayman S, 944 turbo and even a GT3.
I want to put a twin turbo on my car to shoot for top time of the day at PCA event. Lol!

[FL 4Motion]

[QUOTE=Shamu;1217044]I agree somewhat with your intial assessment. However with some more seat time, proper setup I think you will be more impressed with the car. The Nismo really need good sticky Hoosier a6s to exploit it's capability.

It's weak points are silly stock VLSD - its not much better than an open diff. And Nismo suspension isn't track ready. With JRZ pro RS coil overs my Nismo came alive. With 1000 lb front springs and 400 lb rears rear end sets nicely and car is very neutral with no understeer. It's one of the fastest street cars at PCA events now. Runs even with well driven Cayman S's and GT3s. Last event the Nismo was top 4 less than a second behind a couple race slick clad sub 2000 lb Porsche race cars. Two 997 gt3 and a 997 GTS RS were behind my car. Closest Boxster S on Hoosiers was two seconds back. It's taken me 6 months to really start extracting potential from this car. Hang in there!

On track I have fun passing track prepared Cayman S, 944 turbo and even a GT3.
I want to put a twin turbo on my car to shoot for top time of the day at PCA event. Lol![/QUOTE]

/\ I would think hard about that Shamu before pulling the trigger. You'll tear your hair out having to create custom cooling solutions for the car so you can run her reliably on the track.

[roplusbee]

That's wassup. I love my NISMO also, but not sure I can take it to your level at this time Shamu. Once I get a good grip on where I will be in the world after this deployment, I may go balls out. For now, just boost. I will have to assess the suspension later, but it was good for the stock vehicle.

Rob

[Shamu]

Originally Posted by FL 4Motion

/\ I would think hard about that Shamu before pulling the trigger. You'll tear your hair out having to create custom cooling solutions for the car so you can run her reliably on the track.

My car doesnt come close to overheating now? A properly intercooled twin turbo setup with big oil cooler I have now and deep sump should be fine. I dont do that many track events and when I do they are early season cool events or coastal tracks that dont get hot. and AX its not going to overheat. Perhaps a large triple core radiator but thats not a big deal.

[FL 4Motion]

Originally Posted by Shamu

My car doesnt come close to overheating now? A properly intercooled twin turbo setup with big oil cooler I have now and deep sump should be fine. I dont do that many track events and when I do they are early season cool events or coastal tracks that dont get hot. and AX its not going to overheat. Perhaps a large triple core radiator but thats not a big deal.

/\ talk to Sharif at Forged Performance, they helped build a crazy greddy twin turboed white 370z and that car needed ALOT of additional cooling to be able to run reliably on track. Your right, for AX it wouldn't be an issue at all or street driving either for that matter.

As far as whether your car is coming close to overheating now or not? How the fu$k should I know? And if it is, then that should tell you how much more extra heat that will be generated with TT that will stress your cooling systems that much more.

[ScGRaceR]

nice review its just a nissan thats what my answer is to that :O

[bigsix]

Originally Posted by Nism0370

I've had the car for 3 mos.
Modifications-
1) Oil cooler (Setrab 25 row) with Royal Purple full synthetic
2) Stillen Gen 3 intake
3) SS brake lines w/Motul RBF600 fluid
4) Swift springs.

...
3) Comfortable and pretty tight sports car. Fun but not world class...
The rear brake vents are only for decoration and no front brake cooling ducts.
...I wish NISMO had the track goodies that the name assumes. Gets plenty of looks, but looks faster than it is. Maybe Nissan should add a track version with the GTR's functional technology....may need to charge a bit more, but it would be a real Nissan Motorsports track ready car.

Although I don't own a Nismo, I've driven one and think I understand what you're saying.

It just isn't a truly great car:world class

On the other hand, would you say the GT-R is?

[Nismo63]

Still the best bang for the buck when you compare it the other cars out there

[Nism0370]

I don't know..it's a BIG car! Brakes are sharp, throttle and handling are crisp, but you can feel the heft of the 3800 lb GTR. I've never driven any "exotics" to compare it to, but at least on paper its competitive with many of the world class cars...Sorry for the term "world class" I hate that term cause it's overused and subjective- if it feels good, drive it!!

[bigsix]

Originally Posted by Nismo63

Still the best bang for the buck when you compare it the other cars out there

True. Life's too short not to drive a powerful car

[Shamu]

Originally Posted by bigsix

Although I don't own a Nismo, I've driven one and think I understand what you're saying.

It just isn't a truly great car:world class

On the other hand, would you say the GT-R is?

Define world class in under $40k price bracket? In my opinion the slight flaws in the Nismo can be easily addressed. The car also responds very favorably to cheap bolt on tuning items such as intakes, and freer flowing exhaust systems. Anyone who has riden in my car comes away very impressed. On track it's very fast and is one of the best handling affordable production cars I have driven. I come out of Porsche track cars too.

It handles far better than a GTR. GTR just has monster power and AWD traction. 370z is much more nimble and fun car to drive.